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N e w s b r i e f s :MTA SlatesBergen RepairsTo riders of the F train through Cobble Hill, the effusive tricklings and splashings of water running through the Bergen Street subway station are all-too-familiar sounds. Water constantly flows through the station, stagnating and breeding smells in the track beds and buckling the walls throughout the structure.The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), however, will set itself to damming the Bergen St. drip next year, using federal funds supplied to the city under the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964. This project is one of the more than 123 pages worth of proposed repairs, renovations and refurbishings directed at the city%u2019s stations, trains, subway maintenance plants and MTA offices for the next fiscal year.Overall, the MTA is asking for upwards of $210 million in federal aid for projects both planned and already begun. The repair at Bergen St. accounts for $2 million worth of drain replacing, structural reinforcing and planning for an unspecified method of routing water away from the station. Most of the $200 million is devoted to administrative and maintenance costs.By far the greatest number of repair projects are citywide ones, including the $7.9 million task of replacing and modernizing the tracks and roadbeds on the N and RR lines between 36th St. in Brooklyn and 59th in Manhattan, a distance of roughly 16 miles, to cut down on the possibilities of derailment and to minimize power losses to trains.The city%u2019s MTA Transit Aid applications will be open for a citywide public hearing on August 30 at 4:30 pm in the New York State hearing room on the 44th floor of 2 World Trade Center in Manhattan. Until the hearings, the five booklets outlining the MTA%u2019s grant applications and its future plans, asBY LIBBY HAYMANThe former Martin%u2019s Department Store on Fulton Street, which closed in May of this year, has been purchased by Richard Carroll, a developer who owns two other buildings on the shopping street. Carroll plans to divide the property into %u201cfifteen to eighteen stores,%u201d which will open onto Fulton, Bridge, and Duffield Streets. Carroll paid three and a half million for the building and says that %u201c notable%u201d stores will be coming into the location which will %u201c unequivocably%u201d be an asset to the street.Only a month ago, negotiations were proceeding well between the owners of the M artin%u2019s chain, Seedman Merchandising Group, and Rentar Development Corporation, headed by Arthur Ratner, also the developer for the Albee Square Mall, on Fulton Street. Felice Bassin, spokesperson for Rentar, said only that %u201cwe were trying to get an option on the property and someone else got it instead.%u201dRentar had planned to develop the site by building a new store for Alexander%u2019s Department Stores, which have no downtown Brooklyn Store. Carroll says that he also approached Alexander s after iie had purchased the site, but that nothing came out of those %u201c conversations.%u201d Robin Farkas, Senior Vice President of Alexander%u2019s saidwell as additional material containing funding requests for the Department of Transportation relating to maintenance of city highways, are avaiiaoie for public perusal in room 202 in Borough Hall, as well as in the MTA%u2019s offices at 370 Jay Street. For more information, contact the MTA at 330-1234. LZGLocal PoliticianStands GradedWest Brooklyn State Senator Martin Connor and Assemblymen Michael Pesce (Brooklyn HeightsCarroll Gardens) and Woodrow Lewis (Prospect Heights) have all reached the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) %u201c Honor Roll%u201d of politicians, each scoring a 100 percent accord with the NYCLU in their liberal stances on ten chosen issues. Republican State Senator Chris Mega (Park Slope-Sunset Park) scored the local low at 50 percent.The \Civil Liberties Union quiz were supporting a liberalization of druglaw penalties, abortion laws, and discipline hearing regulations for students before involuntary transfers; an extension of maternity insurance coverage, preventive social services, the rights of policemen to join political organizations and the rights of Washington, D.C. residents to vote in nationwide elections; and opposition to lengthening the time a prisoner may be jailed before getting a pre-trial hearing, allowing teachers to initiate abuse and neglect suits for children they feel It) be battered, and the death penalty.Other local representatives fared well also in the ratings. Assemblymen Joe Ferris (Park Slope), Harvey Strelzin (Fort Greene) and A1 Vann (Crown Heights) all scored 80percent, with Assemblyman Mel Miller (North Flatbush) rating a slightly higher 90 percent. State Senator Vander Beatty (Central Brooklyn) was given a 70 percent rating.that %u201cThere just wasn%u2019t a meeting ' of the minds%u201d ir. dealing with the new owner, and said that %u201copportunities often come and go%u201d in cases like the planned development on Fulton.Carroll is not building anew, but dividing the existing building. He says that he %u201chas not approached the city yet%u201d about tax abatements, often used to make improvement of such properties feasible, but he has already started to advertise the new space. The response to recent ads has been %u201cgreat%u201d he reports, and he says, %u201cwe are in negotiation with leading chains, not department stores, but very notable stores.%u201d He added that he could not yet announce what stores would be coming into the new group, but looked forward to having %u201ceyerything in place soon.%u201d Carroll hopes for occupancy %u201cby the end of the year.%u201dHardy Adasko, Brooklyn Coordinator for the NYC Office of Economic Development (OED), said that there are %u201c a number of medium size stores, which are not department stores that could be an addition to Fulton Street.%u201d Adasko expressed concern that the high cost of the building would result in rentals which are higher than a.........i___ _________ .n u in u e i v>%u00bb piv/want to paCarroll is confident at this time that the rental market on Fulton Street is sufficiently strong.The NYCLU also tabulated the attendance records for the politicians%u2019 votes on these issues. Ferris, Miller, Beatty, Connor and Mega a!! scored a dutiful 100 r*r%+r>iVann and Pesce came in at 80 percent, and Lewis and Strelzin followed with 70 percent.Golden RailsKoch DelaysResponding to Mayor Koch%u2019s request for delays and exemptions in the implementation of a voter approved decentralization plan of city agencies, Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden is urging the Mayor to hold public hearings on his final report.Mayor Koch has asked the City Council to approve exemptions and delays to the decentralization plan which is to be implemented by a January 1980 deadline. Golden, in urging public hearings, says in a press release dated August 9, that %u2018%u2018those agencies which fail to comply with the mandates of the Charter can explain fully and publicly their problems and proposed solutions.%u201dThe decentralization plan discussed in Koch%u2019s %u201c Final Report on Coterminality in New York City,%u201d is mandated by the 1975 Charter approved by the city%u2019s voters. It requires that the service area boundaries of such city agencies as Sanitation, Police, Social Services and Housing be made contiguous or coterminous.Under the system a community district would have its own sanitation, police, and human resources unit headed bv an agency represenLOADED GUN: Officer Richard Puntillo of the 78th Precinct arrested Oliver Britt, 23, of 473 Park Place, on July 25 at 7:20 pm on the corner of St. Marks Ave. and Carlton Place. Puntillo had noticed Britt carrying a gun, which turned out to be a loaded .32 calibre revolver.PULL OVER: After he was pulledover following a short chase down Sixth Ave., Victor Vargas, 21, of 507 Sixth Ave., was arrested on the comer of Sixth Ave. and Union St. at 11:05 pm July 25 by 78th Precinct Officer James Golden. In addition to operating a green Honda mo-ped without a registration, Golden found Vargas to be carrying a switch-blade knife, sticking out of a jacket pocket. He was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon and given four summonses.DOUBLE BURGLARY: Two menwere arrested at 10:30 pm on July 25 by Officer Waverly Thompson of the 78th Precinct when they were discovered inside an apartment at 23 Sterling Place. The pair, Raul Guzman, 18, of 18 Lincoln Place, and Carlos Jusino, 26, of 30 St. Johns Place, was charged with burglary, criminal mischief and petty larceny.SOCIAL SERVICE NAB: Officer Edward Selig of the 7th Precinct arrested Jean guy, 26 of 17 East 17th St., and Riley Reid, of 62 St.Felix St., on July 25 at 5:20 am. The two, both charged with burglary, were unearthed inside a Department of Social Services building at 485 State Street.TRIPLE BURGLARY: Three men were arrested at 4:45 am July 25 inside an apartment at 321 Flatbush Ave. by Officer Michael Moloney of the 78th Precinct. The+ .1 o V* K rl .OilKif Vinn IQ -------------- j -0 %u2019 ~ >of 917 Adams St., Norman Castonguay, 54, no address known, and Robert Valinski, 42, also no address known. All three are chargedtative who can make independent decisions based on a community%u2019s needs.In the press release Borough President Gel den ch2r%u00b0c*f'r*7p^ tVm Mayor%u2019s report as %u201c circumventing or at best delaying significant decentralization reforms, the essence of neighborhood, which the voters of this City approved four years ago.%u201d Golden particularly singled out the Final Report%u2019s cost analyses for criticism, calling them %u201c inadequate and incomplete.%u201dA detailed analysis agency by agency issued by Golden%u2019s office outlines the inadequacies in the Mayor%u2019s Final Report for decentralization. The Golden analysis of the Human Resources Administration finds %u201c confusion%u201d regarding the local agency official to coordinate all services. The prescription for the Health Department is also criticized for lacking an agency representative to coordinate services and represent the agency at the community board level. %u2014J.S.T ree CenterStarts ServicesThe Magnolia Tree Earth Center, recipient of a $25,000 grant from the New York State Division for Youth, held its first block servicing on Tuesday July 31, with youngsters ages 8 to 14 pruning, weeding, and cultivating the soil around the trees in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood.Over 40 kids, expected to be included in the program geared to training youths about the need to care for trees and plantlife, will receive a small stipend. The Treewith burglary and criminal mischief.KNIFE CATCH: For allegedly carrying a gravity knife at 3:20 am on July 26 at Fourth Ave. and Pacific St., Freddie Zucker, 22, of 965 Fulton St., was arrested by 78th Precinct Officer Edward Skrzypek, and charged with criminal possession of a dangerous weapon.JOSTLING: For allegedly bumping into a man asleep in a parked automobile in front of 540 Atlantic Ave. and placing his hands near his victim%u2019s pockets, apparently with intent to make off with their contents, 78th Precinct Officer David Braun arrested Carlos Roman, 37, of 200 Dean St., at 3:55 am July 25, charging him with jostling.GAMBLING CRASH: Four men were busted in connection with a raid on an alleged gambling house at 702 Fulton St. on July 25 at 1:55 pm by Officer Robert Nerz of the Brooklyn South police. Herbert Morrison, 42, of 668 Fourth Ave., Earl Sneed, 53, of 1152 Pacific St., James Church, 22, of 235 Hoyt St., and Phillip Stuto, 24, of 469 Carroll St., were all arrested, and police found 56 slips of paper with more than $3100 worth of Mutual race horse gambling wagers, a controller%u2019s statement, and other gambling paraphernalia in the building. All four are charged with promotion of gambling, and possession of gambling records.There%u2019s a bit of a mess brewing down on Atlantic Avenue that has already resulted in two arrests and a demonstration, and it continues to grow more complex as times goes on.The story began ir. the middle of last month when gay activist and Boerum Hill resident Jimmy Flowers was allegedly assaulted in the St. Clair restaurant on thePrivate Developer BuysFulton Street BuildingN.Y.P.D.Corps hopes to cover about 24 blocks in the area, over the next few weeks.The grant enabled the MagnoliaT r C C r n n t n r T r o p C ' r>rncF*3%u2019formerly the Bedford Stuyvesant Neighborhood Tree Corps, to be reactivated after it folded in the early 1970%u2019s. The Center grew out of a small block association T & T Vernon Avenue Block Association, which hoped to preserve the few remaining trees, of the once tree-lined street. The Association gained recognition in 1966, when Mayor Lindsay attended one of their fund-raising parties, which resulted in the establishment of the %u201cTree Match Program%u201d sponsored by the Department of Parks. For every 4 trees purchased by block associations the city provided 6.%u2014E.A.City Suit EndsContinuedture, according to Ford.Pegno%u2019s decision to drop his suit thus leaves the job proceeding under the original contract, with the possibility of further suits when the job is ended. As work continued to disrupt movement along the street, all connected with the project expressed the hope that it would continue to go rapidly.Trager said, %u201c We hope that the sense of the litigation was to get everyone cooperating,%u201d and praised Pegno as an %u201cexcellent contractor%u201d with a %u201c fine track record.%u201d saying that %u201c performance of the work is paramount.%u201dcorner of Atlantic Avenue and Smith Street, for wearing a gay rights tee-shirt; the most recent event was Flowers%u2019 arrest last Sunday, Aug. 19, for aggravated harrassment on the complaint of the owner of St. Clair%u2019s, Costas A. Costa. %u201c I%u2019m getting very paranoid,%u201d Flowers asserted.Flowers claims that, during a breakfast visit to St. Clair%u2019s on July 13, he was drawn aside by Costa and asked not to come back to the restaurant, as his gay rights shirts and gay rights literature, sheets of which he often left on the restaurant%u2019s counter, were driving away business and annoying customers. After a brief argument, Flowers returned to his table to finish eating, at which point he claims Costa began to beat him on the head, body and arms with his fists and, later, with a sugar dispenser. Costa was arrested the following day after Flowers brought him up on charges of harrassment and assault.Flowers then went to the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights (CLGR), a citywide gay advocacy group, seeking support for a picket of the restaurant. The CLGR agreed to endorse such a rally. The rally, on August 27, however, drew at its most populous a total of ten picketers, a small crowd of curious onlookers and ten policemen who watched from a distance.Two days after the unsuccessful protest, Flowers was arrested on charges of aggravated harrassment when St. Clair owner Costa claimed that Flowers had called him late into the night both immediately after the demonstration and over the wecke.id to bother him. Flowers denies the charges, noting that he has a number of witnesses that can attest to his whereabouts and can testify that he made no such telephone calls.%u2014LZGAug. 23,1979, The PH O ENIX, Page 9